ELIZABETH Thomson often took a ferry to Fife to visit her sister Lily Purves in the days before there was a single road bridge across the Forth.
She was often buffeted by winds as the boat set off from Hawes Pier at South Queensferry and the crossing was frequently cancelled in rough weather.
But yesterday the 93-year-old, who lives in Edinburgh, was celebrating after being among the 50,000 people who got the “chance of a lifetime” to walk across the new Queensferry Crossing at the weekend after securing tickets to do so in a public ballot.
It is the second road bridge across the Firth of the Forth Mrs Thomson has seen built during her lifetime with it joining the Forth Road Bridge, which opened on September 4, 1964.
“It was marvellous. I’m so glad I’ve lived to see this,” said Mrs Thomson.
“I had a wonderful time crossing the bridge. It’s absolutely beautiful.”
The former factory worker managed to walk across parts of the £1.35 billion structure accompanied by her granddaughter Lesley Martin, 49, and Lesley’s partner Jane Barlow, 41. When the going got a bit tough Lesley pushed her
grandmother in her wheelchair.
Today the celebrations will continue when the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, will officially open the bridge, cutting a ribbon on its south side.
The Royal couple will then be driven over the bridge and the Queen will unveil a plaque marking the opening at the north side where she will also meet some of the men and women who designed and built the bridge.
To mark the historic moment the Red Arrows will fly over the bridge, while a flotilla of more than 90 small boats will sail across the Forth nearby.
Later Fife musicians KT Tunstall and King Creosote will be among performers who will appear together in a 40-minute set as part of the celebratory event in Rosyth.
Others artists taking part include Roddy Hart & The Lonesome Fire and Karine Polwart. Hart will compere the event, which will feature a specially-
composed poem read by Scots Makar Jackie Kay.
The first people to walk across the bridge set off under blue skies at 9am on Saturday led by First Minister Nicola
Sturgeon and Transport Minister Humza Yousaf.
One of the first to cross from north to south was 16-year-old Morgan Lewis-
Wilson, one of three generations of his family from East Lothian who were taking part.
He said: “I ran the second half and I was one of the first people to finish north to south. It was a really amazing atmosphere coming in first with the saltire over my shoulders. It was just brilliant.”
The ballot for the crossing experience attracted almost 250,000 entries.
The bridge will remain closed to traffic until Thursday, with vehicles re-directed back to the Forth Road Bridge during this time.
The walk across the bridge has proved so popular there have been calls for it to become an annual event, perhaps in aid of charity.
At 1.6 miles, the Queensferry Crossing is the longest bridge of its type in the world and, at 689ft high, Britain’s tallest, say its designers. The first cars drove over the bridge shortly before 2am on Wednesday after traffic was diverted from the Forth Road Bridge.
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